1. Field of the Invention
The technology disclosed in the present description relates to a charging inlet.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional example of a power reception device mounted on an electric automobile, a hybrid vehicle, and the like is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-175408. The power reception device is a device into which a power feeding plug on the charge facility side is inserted when a battery is charged, and which is provided with a box attached to the vehicle body, a body attached to the box, and an inlet assembled to the body. The power feeding plug is configured to be inserted into a cylindrical portion of the body, and the body is integrally provided with a cable lock for preventing the power feeding plug inserted into the cylindrical portion from coming off the cylindrical portion. On the cable lock, a lock lever is pivotally journaled. When charging is started, an actuator is driven and the lock lever is fixed in a lock position, whereby the pulling of the power feeding plug is prevented.
However, in the above power feeding device, a dedicated tool is required to attach the actuator to the cable lock, and the attachment operation becomes cumbersome. Accordingly, there is a method that has been devised to facilitate the actuator attachment operation. In this method, the cable lock is separated from the body, the actuator is assembled into the cable lock in advance, and the cable lock is simply attached to the body later using a cable lock pin. In this way, the cable lock pin may be simply inserted into the body, and no dedicated tool is required.
The cable lock pin includes, for example, a pair of opposed lock pins linked by a link portion in a substantially U-shape. The body includes a cable lock mount portion to which the cable lock is attached. The cable lock mount portion is provided with a pair of locking holes into which the pair of lock pins are inserted, and a pin lock which is locked on the link portion to retain the cable lock pin. The pin lock is configured in a cantilever fashion, and adapted for pivotal motion in a direction perpendicular to a lock pin insertion direction.
However, in the method using the cable lock pin, when the vehicle vibrates, the vibrations are transmitted to the cable lock mount portion to cause the cable lock pin to vibrate in a direction perpendicular to the lock pin insertion direction, and the cable lock pin contacts the pin lock, causing the pin lock to also vibrate. In a worst case, the pin lock may become damaged and the cable lock pin may detach from the cable lock mount portion.